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Matt Damon Hosts "Plan B: Mobilizing To Save Civilization"
Mar 25th
A New Episode Of The PBS Series Journey To Planet Earth Premieres March 30th At 10 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 25, 2011 –/WORLD-WIRE/– “Plan B:
Mobilizing to Save Civilization,” a documentary based on the book by environmental visionary Lester Brown, will be broadcast on PBS on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 10 p.m. Academy Award winner Matt Damon returns as on-camera host/narrator. Produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Marilyn & Hal Weiner, “Plan B” is the 12th episode of the award-winning series Journey to Planet Earth, which reports on the most important environmental and sustainable development issues of the 21st century.
Matt Damon narrates Journey to Planet Earth
Appearing with Lester Brown are Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman, former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, along with other scholars and scientists. Locations include: China, Japan, Korea, India, Italy, Turkey, Bangladesh, Zambia, Haiti, and the United States.
What makes “Plan B” significant and timely is that it provides audiences with hopeful solutions — a road map into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable sources plus realistic strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming. View a clip at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLUEEGxlvlY
Journey to Planet Earth is one of the most successful environmental series in the world, with episodes broadcast in most major overseas television markets. The series currently yields a worldwide television audience of more than 75 million viewers per year. There are also more than 15,000 videos of the series in educational media libraries yielding an annual audience of approximately 1.2 million students. For information about corporate underwriting opportunities or the purchase of Journey to Planet Earth episodes for educational use please send an e-mail to screenscope@screenscope.com
or visit the series web site located at http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth
Here’s What’s Been Said About Journey To Planet Earth:
“The scope is wide, the photography compelling, the presentation is crisp. Take notice unless you’ve already booked passage to another galaxy.” LA Times
“Profoundly serious stuff, crucial information for us and our children and theirs. A continuing series that looks at the orb with fresh eyes, is unmistakably a wake-up call.” Newsday
“Don’t miss Journey to Planet Earth.” People Magazine
“Tonight’s Best TV – Journey To Planet Earth. Welcome back, Matt Damon! We’re glad to have you home again.” Entertainment Weekly
“Superbly illustrates the desperate need for a balance between the needs of people and the environment. An extraordinary production – a must buy for media libraries.” School Library Journal
“Lavishly shot, this series introduces worldwide environmental concerns to students and other interested viewers.” Booklist
“Plan B” is made possible by major grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Turner Foundation, and the Wallace Genetic Foundation, with additional funding from Park Foundation, Weeden Foundation, and the Campbell Foundation.
Web: http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JourneytoPlanetEarth
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/journeytoplanetearth
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/j2planetearth
Downloadable photos at: http://www.pbs.org/pressroom
Contact:
Cara White
843.881.1480
mailto:cara.white@mac.com
$2.5 million available for Boulder human services programs
Mar 24th
The City of Boulder, along with Foothills United Way, Boulder County and the City of Longmont, will issue a joint online application for human services funds on Monday, March 28. The application will be available through an eCommunity application that represents a collaborative effort to streamline funding applications and reporting criteria throughout Boulder County. The application can be found starting Monday by visiting the website: http://www.unitedwayfoothills.org/.
Funding will be provided to community agencies that enhance a comprehensive and coordinated human services network. All Boulder agencies are eligible to compete for funding through this biennial fund round. The approximately $2.5 million available through the 2012/2013 Human Services Fund are administered through the City of Boulder, Department of Housing and Human Services.
Applications are due electronically by Friday, May 13, 2011, at midnight. No late proposals will be accepted. For more information about the application or specific questions regarding the City of Boulder’s Human Service Fund, please contact Valerie Watson at 303-441-1829 or watsonv@bouldercolorado.gov. Additional information is also available at www.boulderhumanservicesfund.com
MEASUREMENTS OF WINTER ARCTIC SEA ICE SHOWS CONTINUING ICE LOSS, SAYS CU-BOULDER STUDY
Mar 23rd
The 2011 Arctic sea ice extent maximum that marks the beginning of the melt season appears to be tied for the lowest ever measured by satellites, say scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.
The CU-Boulder research team believes the lowest annual maximum ice extent of 5,650,000 square miles occurred on March 7. The maximum ice extent was 463,000 square miles below the 1979-2000 average, an area slightly larger than the states of Texas and California combined. The 2011 measurements were tied with those from 2006 as the lowest maximum sea ice extents measured since satellite record keeping began in 1979.
Virtually all climate scientists believe shrinking Arctic sea ice is tied to warming temperatures in the region caused by an increase in human-produced greenhouse gases being pumped into Earth’s atmosphere. Because of the spiraling downward trend of Arctic sea ice extent in the last decade, some CU scientists are predicting the Arctic Ocean may be ice free in the summers within the next several decades.
The seven lowest maximum Arctic sea ice extents measured by satellites all have occurred in the last seven years, said CU-Boulder Research Scientist Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, who participated the latest study. “I’m not surprised by the new data because we’ve seen a downward trend in winter sea ice extent for some time now.”
Scientists believe Arctic sea ice functions like an air conditioner for the global climate system by naturally cooling air and water masses, playing a key role in ocean circulation and reflecting solar radiation back into space, said Meier. In the Arctic summer months, sunlight is absorbed by the growing amounts of open water, raising surface temperatures and causing more ice to melt.
“I think one of the reasons the Arctic sea ice maximum extent is declining is that the autumn ice growth is delayed by warmer temperatures and the ice extent is not able to ‘catch up’ through the winter,” said Meier. “In addition, the clock runs out on the annual ice growth season as temperatures start to rise along with the sun during the spring months.”
Since satellite record keeping began in 1979, the maximum Arctic sea ice extent has occurred as early as Feb. 18 and as late as March 31, with an average date of March 6. Since the CU-Boulder researchers determine the maximum sea ice extent using a five-day running average, there is small chance the data could change.
In early April CU-Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center will issue a formal announcement on the 2011 maximum sea ice extent with a full analysis of the winter ice growth season, including graphics comparing 2011 to the long-term record.
For more information visit http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews.
